


Not Exactly a Meet-Cute

by 77skie77



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Physical Abuse Mention, Romance, The past child abuse is referenced a lot so if that's a trigger for you please be aware, past emotional abuse mention, percabeth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-03-26 15:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19008940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/77skie77/pseuds/77skie77
Summary: College AU.Their meeting isn't exactly a meet-cute. It's more like a meet-ugly when college freshmen Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase smack into each other on move-in day. When they end up being in not only the same dorm, but also the same psychology class, it seems like they're destined to be around each other: they both like Harry Potter, they both like sitting in the front of classrooms, they both hate olives with the fires of ten thousand suns. Perfection. Yes? Not quite. Both Percy and Annabeth struggle to talk about the big things of life. Will they let each other in? Or will their past demons ruins their present hope?Alternative Title: The Aftermath of a Meet-Ugly.





	1. The Sound of Settling

**Author's Note:**

> Percy thinks about Gabe a lot all throughout the story (probably in all of most of the chapters that are in Percy's point of view) and there will probably be some flashbacks, but he thinks about the abuse all the time, so if that's a trigger, please read with caution. Stay safe, friends.

Chapter 1: The Sound of Settling

 _“I’ve got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots”_ – “The Sound Of Settling” -Death Cab for Cutie

PERCY

It's Percy's first day of his freshman year of college. He walks into his first class, Intro to Psychology as a Social Science, listening to “The Sound of Settling” by Death Cab for Cutie. He has had it on repeat for the last two days. It’s just something he does sometimes. He’ll hear a song and end up listening to it over and over until he can’t stand it anymore. Percy’s pretty sure the line that made this song get stuck in his head is “I’ve got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots.” He _wants_ something. Love? Acceptance? Family? Success in school? He already has love because he’s friends with Grover, so he has best-friend-love. Grover’s practically adopted him at this point. Acceptance? Again, Grover. Family? Grover. Success in school? Percy will try. C’s make degrees after all. Percy hates tests and his syllabuses this semester are all very test-heavy. Kill him now. Maybe that’s it. Maybe he wants to feel safe? He hasn’t felt that since before Smelly Gabe married his mom. He _misses_ his mom. Maybe he just wants her. He’s not sure _what_ he wants exactly, but he has felt some kind of hunger ever since he arrived on Thursday for Freshman Orientation at The College of William and Mary. Percy still can’t get over the fact that the school’s officially called the College of William and Mary. That’s just weird.

Percy looks around the room and finds a seat in the front row. Percy’s best friend, Grover, is a senior here and says that the front of the room is the best place to sit because if Percy’s in the back row, then he’ll get distracted by all the people on their laptops in class. Apparently, people shop on Amazon, check Facebook, watch movies, go on Pinterest, and all sorts of other things during class. If this class is boring, then Percy doesn’t blame them for doing that, but Percy needs to concentrate. It’s hard enough to concentrate in class because of his ADHD, he doesn’t need other people being distracting and making it worse.

For some reason, he isn’t allowed to record the class, so he has to take notes. Percy prefers to use blue pens for this. Percy looked up tips for college classrooms for students with dyslexia. Some of them are things he did in high school like try to ask peers to share notes, so he can make sure he has the right information written down. Another is to sit in the front row of the classroom, away from distractions. Something recommended that Percy’s reluctant to do is meet with professors during office hours. Grover says nobody ever really stops by during office hours, so Percy’s professors should have time to meet with him, but real adults make Percy nervous. The only one he could ever trust was his mom and now she’s gone.

A hand taps on Percy’s desk. Percy looks to see Annabeth, the one from his freshman dorm that he collided with on Thursday during move-in.

_“Slow down Grover!” Percy calls out as he staggers behind his best friend. Grover’s a senior at William and Mary. Percy’s a freshman. Today’s move-in day. A bunch of volunteer people in shirts that say “Sweating For You” have pulled Percy’s stuff out of Grover’s car and put it onto the sidewalk outside of Taliaferro, Percy’s new home for the next year (if he makes it that long). Percy’s trying to follow Grover’s fast pace up the stairs. Grover is carrying Percy’s suitcase full of all his clothes and Percy is carrying the fridge Grover bought him yesterday. (Grover offered to help Percy carry it, but after everything Grover has done for Percy, he couldn’t just let Grover carry super heavy things up three flights of stairs.)_

_Grover turns to Percy and asks, “Do you want my help now?”_

_“Nope,” Percy gasps for breath._

_“If you insist,” Grover turns and continues walking up the stairs._

_They finally make it up to Percy’s room. Grover knocks. There’s no answer._

_“Well, your roommate is named Jason. It looks like they’re not here yet though.” Grover says. “Do you have your key?”_

_“Key?” Percy asks._

_“To get into your room; you said you would get that after you went to Campus Center for your ID.” Grover reminds Percy._

_Crap._

_Percy forgot._

_His heartbeat picks up and he takes a step back from Grover. Grover has already done so much for Percy and_ this _is how Percy repays him? By forgetting the key to the room that Grover is helping Percy move into? Grover keeps telling Percy that Gabe was wrong about Percy, but it’s getting harder and harder to believe it when Percy does stupid stuff like this._

_“I forgot; I got lost looking for Campus Center and then I forgot to get the key. Sorry.” Percy says._

_“Hey, it’s okay; you can go grab it now. It’s no big deal.”_

_Percy looks at Grover and searches his face for anger. All he finds is a smile._

_“It’s really okay, Perce. Just put the fridge down, walk to the lobby, and get your key from your RA. Or is it your OA? I don’t quite remember, but they’ll be at a big table. Make sure you have your ID though or they won’t give it to you. Do you have your ID?” Grover asks._

_Percy puts the fridge down and feels around his pocket for his ID. Percy pulls it out just to check. Yep. He has it._

_“You head down there, and I’ll watch your stuff; okay?” Grover’s still smiling at Percy._

_Percy puts on his most convincing smile and then turns heel to head downstairs. Percy bolts down the stairs, narrowly avoiding three collisions. Then it happens. Percy yanks the door open and runs out, smacking right into the person trying to walk in. Percy falls backwards onto his butt._

_Oh crap. Now he’s done it._

_“Ow!” Someone says._

_Percy scrambles up and runs over to the person he has knocked over; he says, “I am_ so _sorry. Can I help you up?” Percy offers his hand._

_They’re currently picking things up and putting them into a grey box-thing. “I’m fine.”_

_Percy reaches down and picks up a thermos. “Um, here,” he says, trying to pass it to the person he ran over._

_“Oh, um, thanks,” they say looking just as awkward as Percy feels right now. They have gorgeous grey eyes._

_Percy starts helping them pick up the rest of the stuff in the box. As the two of them work, Percy asks, “Uh, I’m Percy; my pronouns are he and him. What’s your name?”_

_Percy wants to become a psychologist and counselor at a high school, so he’s trying to work on not assuming people’s preferred pronouns. Also, he just wants to be a decent human being._

_“Annabeth; pronouns are she and her.” Annabeth looks at Percy for a moment, studying him. Then she tucks a strand of curly blonde hair behind her ear and goes back to looking for her spilled things._

_Percy takes the moment to study Annabeth now. That’s such a cool name. She’s really pretty. Her curly blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, she’s kind of tan, she’s wearing a Ravenclaw t-shirt, blue cargo capris, and Vans that look like jeans._

_Percy goes back to picking Annabeth’s stuff up and soon, they’re done. “Again, I’m really sorry,” Percy says._

_“It’s fine,” Annabeth shrugs._

_“Well, it was nice to meet you!” Percy says. Then he quickly turns and walks to go get his key. He has taken up enough of Annabeth’s time._

Percy looks into Annabeth’s grey eyes which currently look like rain clouds right before a thunderstorm. Why’s she tapping his desk? He takes his earbuds out of his ears.

“If I sit next to you, can we be class partners? Like, we trade notes to make sure we have all the information? You’re gonna notice stuff I don’t and I’m gonna notice stuff you don’t, so we could both benefit if we work together. Does that sound like something you’re interested in?” Annabeth asks.

Percy blinks. Did she really just suggest that? He smiles at Annabeth and says, “Yeah, that sounds awesome.”

Annabeth sits at the desk to Percy’s right and pulls a laptop out of her bag. After she gets organized, she asks, “Your name’s Percy; right?”

Percy doesn’t mean to, but he smiles even wider when Annabeth remembers his name. To be fair, she probably only remembers his name because he’s the idiot who slammed into her on move-in day and made her drop a bunch of her stuff, but still. Annabeth _remembers_ Percy.

Percy can hear Gabe now: Why would it matter that she remembers you, punk? You’re worthless. She’s just settling for you as a note-trader. She’ll find someone better to work with.

That’s probably true, but it doesn’t stop Percy from asking, “You’re Annabeth; right?”

This time Annabeth smiles—just a little bit—and Percy’s heart skips a beat.

“Yeah, I’m Annabeth,” Annabeth replies.

Today Annabeth’s wearing a Ravenclaw necklace.

“I take it you like _Harry Potter_?” Percy asks.

Annabeth nods.

“And you’re a Ravenclaw?”

“I like Ravenclaw the best. I’ve taken the Pottermore test five times and always get Slytherin. Well, except for this one time when I looked up the answers that can get Ravenclaw. Then I got Ravenclaw. It’s my favorite house because it values learning which is something I value so if I were in the _Harry Potter_ universe, I think the Sorting Hat would listen to me and put me in Ravenclaw—like what it did by putting Harry in Gryffindor.”

Percy can’t help but laugh a little. “Honestly, that is _the_ most Slytherin thing I’ve ever heard.”

Annabeth shrugs.

“Like you said though, the Sorting Hat listens to characters which is probably how Neville, Ron, and Hermione ended up in Gryffindor even though Neville and Ron could’ve been really excellent Hufflepuffs since they’re so loyal and Hermione loves learning, so she could’ve been a good Ravenclaw. So, I think you’re right about you being in Ravenclaw if you went to Hogwarts.”

“Where would you be?”

“I’ve taken the Pottermore test a bunch of times too and half the time I get Gryffindor and the other half I get Hufflepuff, so I’d probably just let the Sorting Hat decide.”

“That’s fair; why do you think you’re in the middle?”

“I think loyalty’s really important so I like Hufflepuff, and I think bravery’s really important too so I like Gryffindor as well.”

Percy’s also an impulsive idiot so Gryffindor works for him and he would destroy anyone who hurt his friends or family so Hufflepuff works for him too. At least, he would try to destroy anyone who hurts those he loves…it doesn’t always work though.

“Those are good traits to value,” Annabeth says.

Before Percy can respond, the professor starts talking. Percy sneaks one last glance at Annabeth, really, happy that he met a fellow Potterhead. Maybe she’ll like some of his other fandoms. Maybe she can introduce him to more of hers if she has more. Percy hopes she does. He loves good content.


	2. The Weight of Living Part I

_“Do you like the person you’ve become?”_ -“Weight of Living Part I” -Bastille

**Annabeth**

It has been two weeks since classes started, and Annabeth has come to several conclusions about college. The first is that she rarely sees her roommate, Clarisse, who is on the Rugby team and spends most of her time with the team. This leaves Annabeth with a lot of alone time which is just fine to her. When she is in the room, Clarisse is a little rough around the edges but nice to Annabeth.

The second conclusion is that Thursday is celebrated just as hard as Friday. Why? Annabeth does not know. All she knows is that people get particularly rowdy once Thursday rolls around. Clarisse invited Annabeth to a Thursday party, but Annabeth declined because she had a Spanish quiz the next day. Annabeth doesn’t care that other people drink and enjoy themselves, she just wishes they would do so quietly because she has to deal with loud music from someone in her hall and she has to deal with shouting from downstairs.

The third conclusion is that the library is open most of the day, so she might as well take advantage of it. Swem library has a different atmosphere based on the floor. The basement is a large space with some study areas, the print shop, a computer lab, and the theater. The first floor is the floor to go if one wishes to be chatty. It has computers, a coffee shop, there is a relaxed study space, the Special Collections center, the Research help desk, several sets of shelves, and the DVDs aisle. This is the place to go if one wishes to mostly socialize while sort of doing homework. The second floor is quieter than the first. There are special study rooms, lots of shelves, computers, desks, tables, and couches to study quietly. The third floor is the silent floor. If one makes any noise while they walk around on the third floor, they’ll get hit by a volley of glares immediately. Talking is not officially prohibited, but it seems risky. Annabeth has a favorite couch on the third floor where she wishes she could study, but she can’t. It’s too distracting. There’s a window where she can see outside, the couch is too comfy, and the whole place is just too interesting to let study properly. So, she makes due with her distracting dorm-room.

At least the first-floor lounge in Annabeth’s dorm is usually empty in the mornings. Annabeth can get some studying done between 7am and 9am. Between her dyslexia and ADHD, studying can be a long and grueling process, so she tries to study a little every day, so she won’t feel like dying when it comes time to study for the test. Trouble concentrating plus stress is never a good combination the night before a test.

One of the dorm RA’s, Reyna, a junior who’s a Government major with a Public Policy minor, walks into the room. “Hey Annabeth; how’s your morning going?”

Reyna’s wearing workout gear. She must be back from her morning jog.

“Good so far; yours?” Annabeth replies.

“Same; the weather doesn’t completely suck yet so it’s nice to run in. Do you run?”

“Only away from people,” Annabeth lies with a smile.

She used to run. She was the fastest girl on the cross-country team. That was before Luke ran away. Running wasn’t fun after that. These days, the only time Annabeth runs is to get away from her problems. At least, she tries to anyway.

“Well, if you ever want to join me, feel free.” Reyna says.

“I don’t think I’ll take you up on your offer but, thank you anyway.” Annabeth tells the truth this time.

Reyna nods. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

Then Reyna walks upstairs.

Annabeth stares at her copy of “King Lear” by Shakespeare. She’s taking one English class this semester. She likes books and plays, it just takes a while to get through them. So far, her main takeaway from this play is that King Lear is a vain idiot.

She can’t concentrate. She keeps thinking about Luke. He just _left_ Annabeth and Thalia. How could he do that?

Annabeth shakes her head in frustration. It has been two years. She needs to get over it; Luke obviously is. If he weren’t over it, he would have come back to them. It was two years on Monday. Today’s Friday. Annabeth hates him for leaving her. He promised he would never leave. He _promised_.

Annabeth types a text about her conflicted feelings and almost sends it to Thalia. She deletes it instead. Not today.

…

Annabeth walks into Intro to Psychology as a Social Science and sits in the front row beside Percy. She takes in his tan skin, his shaggy black hair with blue highlights running through it, his black and blue tank top that references a band that Annabeth thinks is called The Dangerous Summer. She hasn’t heard of that band. Percy’s wearing ripped black skinny jeans (as usual) and Captain Marvel Vans. Annabeth’s glad that Percy’s a fanboy. It makes for easy conversation because they both speak Fandom.

Percy smiles when he sees Annabeth.

Annabeth tries to smile back, but she keeps thinking about things she would rather forget. She’s trying not to get too attached to Percy. He’s the person she has become closest to here, but it has only been two weeks since they started sitting beside each other in this class. That’s too short a time to get close to someone. It’s just nice having a friend here. But, she knows it’s useless. So far, the only person that hasn’t abandoned Annabeth so far is Thalia.

It’s just, they have a routine. Annabeth likes routines. They sit together in the class, eat lunch together, and then walk to the dorm together. They part ways after that. (Psych is an 11am Monday, Wednesday, Friday class and Annabeth doesn’t have any more classes after that. She has a 9am and a 10am.)

“Hey Annabeth,” Percy says.

“Hey Percy,” Annabeth replies.

“How’s your day?” Percy asks.

Terrible.

“Good so far; yours?” Annabeth lies.

“It’s good,” Percy replies.

“Reading anything good?”

“No books right now, but I found a fanfic about Irondad and Spiderson pre-Infinity War that I’m obsessed with.”

“Is that Tony Stark and Peter Parker?”

“Yup.”

“Thought so. Send me the link?”

“Can do.” Percy pulls his phone out and starts typing. “All right. Prepare to revel in the awesome.”

“Can’t wait.”

“What about you? Did you finish _The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Dead_?”

“Yeah; it was really good.”

“Did you find that on the Overdrive app?”

“Yup,”

“Awesome. I’ll have to check it out sometime.” Percy laughs. “Check it out. I didn’t even mean to do that.”

Yes, Percy Jackson is someone who laughs at things he calls “punny”. Constantly.

Witnessing Percy’s full-body laugh (head tilted back, wide smile, hand slapping his leg) makes Annabeth’s heart melt a little. He’s such a dork.

It has been two weeks since classes started, and Annabeth has come to several conclusions about herself. She lies like it’s her full-time job. She misses Thalia. She wants to trust Percy Jackson, but she cannot. No matter how adorkable he seems now, he’s just going to leave her like everyone else does.


	3. Breathe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thank you for reading my fanfic. Please let me know what you think!

_“Well it’s all so overrated, not saying how you feel,”_ –“Breathe” -Michelle Branch-

Percy lays on his bed and stares at the ceiling. It’s Saturday. Theoretically, he should be outside doing something fun. Grover’s doing something fun with Juniper today. Percy’s roommate, Jason, is out with his friends Piper and Leo. Jason invited Percy to join them, but Percy wasn’t up for it. Percy could text Annabeth, but he doesn’t want to bother her. He can’t remember if she mentioned that she had any plans for today. If Percy’s being honest, he doesn’t really want to be social today. He wants to be in the world of fandoms, but he can’t concentrate long enough to read anything, and he can’t sit still for a movie, and all his favorite fanfics haven’t been updated recently. Percy glances at the window. It’s sunny out. It’s probably one of the last sunny days for a while. Well, it should be. Virginia doesn’t exactly have regular seasons. It’s almost impossible to figure out what to wear because summer is fighting to stay. Still, it’s nearly October and it’s getting colder.

“Trouble” by P!nk starts to play. Percy grabs his phone and skips the song. He loves P!nk, but he knows he’s trouble. No need to be reminded. Percy settles on “Pocketful of Sunshine” by Natasha Bedingfield.

There’s a knock on his door. That’s weird. Jason must’ve forgotten something. Percy looks at his phone. There’s no text from Jason saying he’s coming back.

Percy pockets his phone, gets up, and answers the door. It’s Annabeth. She’s wearing a t-shirt with Groot from the Guardians of the Galaxy on it, navy blue cargo shorts, and olive-green Converse. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail and she’s wearing a New York Yankees hat.

Annabeth doesn’t say anything for a moment and then asks, “Is that Natasha Bedingfield?”

“Yup,”

Annabeth nods. “Alright, I didn’t think you’d like her music. Cool to know you like other things.”

“I can wear pop-punk clothes while also liking a variety of music Annie,”

Annabeth rolls her eyes at Percy, but she’s smiling too.

“What brings you here?” Percy asks.

“Bored; Clarisse’s out of town for a game. Wanna do something?”

“How do you know I don’t already have plans?”

Annabeth’s smile falters but she says, “Well, you didn’t mention having any plans, so I assumed you weren’t doing anything. You usually tell me when you’re gonna do stuff for the weekend.”

She’s not wrong.

“Plus, it’s one in the afternoon and you’re wearing pajamas.” Annabeth points out.

Oh.

Percy looks down at his Stitch pajama bottoms and his t-shirt that says, “Everything Is Better In Your Pajamas”.

Forgot about that.

He looks at Annabeth and says, “I could be wearing this ironically.”

Annabeth grins again, “Oh yeah, sure.”

Percy can’t believe he’s about to admit this, but he suddenly needs her to know this. “I can’t believe you’re my best friend here.” Percy says, trying his best to sound casual about it. His heart beats a little faster as he waits for her to say something back. Why’s it so hard for Percy to tell people he cares about them? Annabeth really is his best friend. They’ve been hanging out every day. They study together. She knows Grover who immediately took her under his wing, Juniper too. Annabeth’s Percy’s favorite person here after Grover.

Annabeth’s face turns red. “Ha-ha,” she says, glancing away from Percy.

Percy hesitates before saying, “You—you really _are_ my best friend here.”

“That’s Grover’s job.”

“Grover’s been taking care of me since forever. He’s more like my brother than my best friend. And, even if he is my best friend, I can have multiple best friends. Grover’s,” Percy struggles to find the words. He leans against the door as he says, “Grover’s family. I—I don’t have a lot of that. So, Grover’s family and you’re my best friend.”

“Percy, can I touch you?” Annabeth asks.

Percy nods.

Annabeth puts her hand on Percy’s shoulder and says, “I get it. I don’t want to talk about why, but I get. I really do. And, you’re my best friend too.” She smiles at him. “Why else would I come here when I’m bored?”

Percy stares at Annabeth. He doesn’t know what to say. He smiles at her. Maybe she means it. Why would she lie? Gabe lied a lot when there was no reason for it. No, there was a reason. Percy’s trouble. Gabe’s right about that. Is Percy going to be too much trouble for Annabeth? She doesn’t seem to think so. She says he’s her best friend. That could be a lie. Percy doesn’t want to care about that right now. He just wants to be happy that Annabeth says he’s her best friend.

“You okay?” Annabeth asks.

Before Percy can answer, “Kicking and Screaming” by All Time Low starts to play.

“See, this is more what I was expecting in terms of music.” Annabeth jokes.

Percy rolls his eyes and dramatically sighs at Annabeth. “Okay, is this plan of yours to not be bored involve going outside? Because if it does, I would like to change first.”

“I mean, you _can_ walk around in your pj’s. It’s college. Nobody’s gonna judge you for it.”

“Maybe, but I do know you’re gonna joke me for it.”

“ _What?_ Me? Joke _you?_ Preposterous.”

“Yeah, give me five minutes.” Percy walks into his room. He can hear Annabeth laughing as he closes the door.

Percy walks over to his closet feeling warm. He’s glad he and Annabeth are best friends.


	4. Caught in the Middle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings:  
> Mentions of abandonment issues, death of a parent, emotional abuse, and a lot of self-hatred.
> 
> Also, for the purposes of this fanfic, I don’t think I’m having Thalia and Jason be siblings; if I do decide to have them be siblings, then they might be half-siblings, but I’m not sure yet.

_“I’m just a little bit caught in the middle,”_ –“Caught in the Middle”-Paramore-

In the past few weeks, Annabeth has come to some new conclusions about college. The first is that most of the dining hall food is disappointing. The staff who work at the various dining halls are incredibly nice though. The second conclusion is that asking her dad for money is the literal worst, but in order to avoid asking her dad for money, she needed to get money of her own. That’s why she started working at the front desk at the college gym so she can buy things like shampoo and deodorant. That has its ups and downs, but as far as jobs go, it’s not the worst. The third conclusion is that whenever Annabeth gets bored, she’s allowed to go pester Percy until he agrees to do something fun with her. Fun is defined here as walking around campus, watching a movie in one of their dorms, binge-watching television (Annabeth is now a _Supergirl_ fan and Percy is now a _Merlin_ fan), and finding free things to do around campus. For the purposes of this conclusion, allowed to means that Percy has not complained even in a joking way about Annabeth texting out of the blue or just showing up randomly at his door. Sometimes Percy is busy and asks if she’ll swing by later, but he doesn’t do anything to make Annabeth feel bad about popping in. In fact, he has repeatedly said he likes the random visits. Annabeth has started texting rather than showing up randomly because it’s more efficient that way, but sometimes she just shows up.

Unfortunately for Annabeth, today is not one of those days. She currently has a B in Spanish and somehow her dad found out. To say he was not pleased is a massive understatement. She doesn’t know why her dad cares about her grades anyway. He never wants to know anything about her. Maybe he just likes the bragging rights that come with her good grades. Annabeth’s pretty sure her dad doesn’t love her, but he loves making everything she does about him. When she was a kid, hearing his incessant bragging about her made her feel proud, but now it just makes her feel sick. She’s just a trophy to him.

How’d he even find out anyway? Did she mention it by mistake? That seems unlike her. If there’s one thing Annabeth is good at, it’s keeping secrets. Does he have access to her grades? Can Annabeth revoke that access somehow? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter that Annabeth doesn’t know how it happened. All that matters is that she just got off the phone after being chewed out by her dad for not being smart enough. Again. Perhaps the phrase “chewed out” isn’t accurate here. Her dad isn’t exactly the yelling kind per say. He just calmly tells her that she is a huge disappointment. Thalia and Luke caught him in the act one time when Annabeth was in sixth grade, Thalia was in eighth grade, and Luke was in ninth grade. They told Annabeth that her dad shouldn’t speak to her like that, and that words are weapons—even the soft-spoken ones. Annabeth believed them back then. How could she not? They were her best friends, her protectors, her heroes, her family. She’s not so sure she believes them anymore.

Thalia and Luke were next-door neighbors and they lived across the street from Annabeth. They met when Annabeth was seven, Thalia was nine, and Luke was ten. Their parents were all in a book-club at Annabeth’s house, so when their parents all got together to read books that first time, Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth met. It was right after Annabeth moved into the neighborhood and two years before Annabeth’s mom left without any warning. The parents’ group diminished over time: four years after the book-club started, Luke’s dad died, five years after the book-club started, Thalia’s dad had an affair and moved across town which meant Thalia only saw him on the weekends. Book-club ended, but the friendship between Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth didn’t. At least…it didn’t until Luke left. For so long, Annabeth was sure they were unbreakable, but then a week before he graduated high school, Luke just left. He’d finished all his exams and _left_. He didn’t say goodbye. He didn’t even leave a note or send a text to explain why. They tried to call him countless times, but he has since disconnected his phone. They don’t know if he’s even alive.

Annabeth still has Thalia, but it’s not the same. Especially, since Annabeth thinks she’s just another reminder for Thalia that Luke’s gone. Thalia tried to hold Annabeth together, but how could a seventeen-year-old accomplish that when she herself was falling apart too? Neither of them made it unscathed and sometimes it’s just easier not to talk about it than deal with the fact that they’re still grieving for the loss of the friendship they had with Luke. He was their older brother and he abandoned them.

Today is a good day for wallowing. Clarisse is studying with her girlfriend, so she won’t be back for a few hours, which means that Annabeth has a few hours of solitude to spend feeling sorry for herself. Annabeth lies on her bed and hugs her pillow, sobbing. It’s Saturday and there’s really not anyone around to hear her. She cries for her mom who left her. She cries for her dad who shut down when her mom left them and now, demands perfection from Annabeth. She cries for Luke who was clearly suffering before he left and never told them about it. She cries for herself because Luke never told them why he left them, and she misses him. She cries for Thalia who threw herself into work after Luke left: she started working more hours at her job to pay for college, she took all AP classes, she stayed in cross-country and soccer and tried to encourage Annabeth to do the same, she became club presidents, and did community service, all to get into an excellent college to get away from her parents. Unfortunately for Annabeth, Thalia going to New York University meant that she got away from Annabeth too. Annabeth cries mostly for herself and how tired she is and how she wishes she could be enough to make everyone she loves stay with her, but she knows that’s impossible. That knowledge makes her feel so very small.

Someone knocks on her door. Clarisse probably forgot her key again. Annabeth feels cold in the pit of her stomach and rushes to dry her face with her shirt. She tries her hardest to stop crying. Clarisse cannot see Annabeth cry. Not because Clarisse will be awful if she sees Annabeth cry; she did bring her soup when Annabeth caught a cold last week, but because even though Clarisse and Annabeth are not particularly close, Clarisse is bound to wonder _why_ Annabeth’s crying. Annabeth doesn’t exactly feel like explaining the _why_ right now.

Once Annabeth believes she has successfully pulled herself together, she walks to the door, opens it, and freezes as soon as she sees Percy standing in her doorway. What’s he doing here?

He’s smiling at Annabeth. He nearly always smiles at Annabeth; it’s that classic Percy smile he always gives her that seems to be half joy and half mischief. She likes that smile far too much for her own good. He has lime green highlights now instead of sky blue. He’s wearing a blue Vampire Weekend t-shirt and grey skinny jeans. It occurs to Annabeth that she has never seen him wear shorts. Annabeth’s not sure why that matters right now though.

“Oh, um, hi,” Annabeth isn’t sure what to do, so she tries to smile at Percy. It probably doesn’t work, but she tries.

“Hi Annabeth, I figured I’d drop by and see if you wanted to hang out.” Percy’s smile fades into a look of confusion. His eyebrows are squeezed together, and it looks like he’s chewing on the inside part of his lip. He probably thinks it’s subtle, but it’s not.

Annabeth doesn’t know what to say next. Half of her desperately wants someone to try to cheer her up right now. The other half believes she is undeserving of that. She’s not sure Percy could help even if he tried. She wants to give him the chance though. The whole back and forth frustrates her to the point where she’s horrified to feel tears well up in her eyes. She tries to stop them, but it’s pointless, they’re here.

“Annabeth?” Percy asks. His voice is quiet, unsure.

“Yeah?” Annabeth smiles despite trying to blink back stupid tears.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re obviously not okay; you look like you’re about to cry.”

Annabeth feels like her brain could explode from indecision. Finally, she just pulls her phone out of her pocket and shows Percy the text from her dad demanding a phone-call to discuss “her shitty grades.”

“What’s wrong with your grades?” Percy asks.

“B in Spanish,” Annabeth chokes out. She can’t believe she just admitted that out loud; shame rushes over her in a wave of heat. She’s supposed to be better than a B.

“There’s nothing wrong with getting a B in Spanish.” Percy says. “Plus, the semester isn’t even half over anyway, so you have time to bring it up.”

“I have to be perfect.” It hurts to talk as Annabeth continues her battle with her tears and tries to keep her voice from shaking. “He’s paying for me to come here, so I have to be perfect.”

Annabeth can’t believe she told him that.

Annabeth’s eyes are welling up with more tears and she can’t make out Percy’s facial expressions anymore, but she hears his voice shake a little when he says, “Aww Annabeth, that’s—that’s not true. You don’t have to be—have to be perfect. He shouldn’t have—shouldn’t have—shouldn’t have told you that. Learning a new language is hard. B’s are good grades.”

Annabeth shakes her head. “Not good enough for him. I’m not enough. _I’m never enough_.” A sob bursts from her chest and it _hurts_. She can’t take it anymore and just cries right in her doorway in front of Percy. He’ll probably just leave. She’s sure she has disgusted him now so he’ll just leave her like everyone else.

Percy doesn’t leave. Instead, he hugs Annabeth.

Annabeth doesn’t deserve a hug, but she buries her face in his shoulder and hugs him back anyway. Sometimes you want things that you don’t deserve, but every once in a while, you get them. That’s just how life works sometimes. Annabeth’s lucky every now and then.

“It’s gonna be okay.” Percy tells Annabeth. “It probably doesn’t seem like it now, but it’s gonna be okay.”

Annabeth cries for a long time. Then she pulls away from Percy and whispers, “Sorry for exploding. You just happened to swing by at the wrong time.”

“I mean, from where I’m standing, it looks like I came by at the right time since you were upset.” Percy says. “Do you wanna talk about it some more? Is he always like that?”

Annabeth stares at the ground. She’s at a loss for words. Part of her wants to just tell him everything. The other part? The other part is deeply afraid she has become too attached already and doesn’t want to make it worse. She barely knows Percy, but she knows it’s going to hurt like hell when she loses him.

After a few beats, Percy asks, “Does the silence mean you don’t wanna talk? It’s okay if you don’t—just like it’s okay if you do.”

“I’d rather not talk about it.” Annabeth’s voice sounds like she gargled nails. Her throat feels raw.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Percy asks. “We could go in my room or your room. And you can pick which movie.”

Annabeth can’t bring herself to look at Percy. She can’t believe that just happened. Well, she can, but she was hoping she wouldn’t be so pathetic. A tiny part of her also thinks it was nice being held while she cried. The crying part sucked, but the part where she knew someone was there to try to make it better was a nice change.

“Annie?” Percy asks.

Annabeth shoots him a look and Percy grins. “Do you wanna watch a movie? We could go for a walk instead if you want.” Percy says.

“A movie sounds good.” Annabeth says.

“Which room?”

“Mine,”

Percy starts to walk in, but then Annabeth realizes she’s wearing pajamas right now. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Percy saw Annabeth in her cute Ravenclaw pajamas, but that’s not what she’s wearing right now. No, right now, Percy is seeing Annabeth in her fluffiest pair of green and black striped socks that go all the way up to her knees, maroon basketball shorts that go down to Annabeth’s knees, and a purple long-sleeved pajama top with Yoda’s face on it. The last part wouldn’t be embarrassing if it weren’t fuzzy with ears that are literally extra bits of material attached to the shirt. Furthermore, not only does Annabeth try to avoid wearing 3D clothing in front of Percy, she also tries to make sure her clothes match on the days she plans to see him. Since they’re going to hang out today, Annabeth would very much like to change into some street clothes instead of wallow-in-shame clothes.

“Actually, can you give me a few minutes to change? I just realized I’m wearing my pajamas.” Annabeth says.

“No one will judge you for remaining in your pajamas.” Percy says.

Annabeth thinks back to the first time a few weeks ago when she’d said almost the same thing to Percy and smiles as she says, “No, but you might joke me.”

Percy grins. “What? Me? Joke you? _Never_.”

Annabeth laughs and hugs Percy again. Percy flinches, and Annabeth lets go immediately. “I’m sorry,” Annabeth says.

“No, you’re fine.” Percy says and then he quickly pulls her into a tight hug.

Annabeth hugs Percy back and wants to cry again a little bit. He’s too good to her. “Thank you,” Annabeth says.

“That’s what friends are for.” Percy replies.

“You’re a good friend.” Annabeth says.

“Thanks. So are you.” Percy tells her.

Annabeth feels cozy on the inside. At least Percy doesn’t mind that Annabeth’s not perfect. That’s all you can hope for in a friend, really.

Annabeth tries to cling to the light, cozy feeling and bury the heavy, cold feeling that this could not possibly last long. Percy _will_ eventually leave. Everyone does. Why would he be any different? Annabeth knows this already though; she’s prepared. So, she might as well enjoy it while it lasts…right?


End file.
